Eternity Course Series
by Usless5075
Summary: The legend of the Prower legacy begins here, with the young fox Artemis Prower. During the search for something to keep his family safe, he embarks on a quest to protect those he loves. He instead finds something far better, and takes destiny in his hands
1. Chapter 1: Confined Obsession

_Author's Notes: Alright viewers, this is where it all begins, the ride of your life that will leave you thinking about ALOT of things at the end of this trip. Maybe different situations, your life, other's problems, the choices you make, anything dealing with the moral aspect of life. I warn you, don't be fooled because this has several Sonic and Star Fox characters, look into the meaning of this story, which shouldn't be hard if you get into it. :) read and enjoy the start of Lex Chronicles._

**Eternity Course**

**Chapter One: Confined Obsession**

_The Prower family was always a special bunch, working for the military, helping out with the community whenever they could, and lending a hand to those in need. They were always a nice family that loved to try and help out when they could. The youngest of them, Artemis Prower, had always believed that there was something more that he could achieve. He had a knack for gaining knowledge, and he tended to have a weakness about pride. There were many times when the family had to face off against strong and dangerous enemies, trying to protect others who couldn't fight. After realizing he himself had been beaten in one of these fights, he seeked power and more knowledge to help those he could, whether in danger or just in need of information. He began to start his quest after hearing a rumor about a secret liquid called the Vostage Prosperity that was sealed inside of a hand-sized capsule. It was rumored that one sip from this liquid, and he would have all the knowledge as well as physical power that was unmatched to any physical being in the universe._

_Artemis wasn't stupid however, and wondered quickly why no one else has gone after this liquid. It was safe to say that it was because it was told that it was stored in a labyrinth maze that was full of traps. By the information he was given, the grey fox began to think it was almost hopeless to look for it. But he realized that without the liquid, his family would have to endure the burden of always defending everyone else, and that was something he did not want. He wanted to protect his family as well as give them knowledge to everything he might learn. He believed it was a positive thing to do. And so, it is the start of the long journey that the young Prower takes._

_In a small house..._

A grey fox with royal blue eyes crossed his arms as he looked at his mother across the kitchen table. He was wearing a black shirt with dark blue jeans along with black sneakers. He also had a pair of black shades set on his forehead, ready to be pulled down for his trek across the treacherous mountains. "Please mom... I need to find it... just let me go and I'll promise that I'll come back even stronger." he quipped. The orange vixen turned around and then showed her angry face to her son, "Listen Artemis, I will not let you travel half the planet to look for something that couldn't even exist. Even if I was one hundred percent sure that drug existed..." she began, but the teenager protested quickly. "Mom it's not a drug, it's a..." he began, but was cut off. "It's the Vostage Prosperity! I know, you've told me a thousand times. Now my answer is no and that's final." the orange vixen shouted. The grey fox only sulked as he stood up from the table and walked towards the back of the house. Suddenly the side door opened and a buff orange fox walked inside.

He was carrying yet another three unconscious bodies over his huge and broad shoulders. He was a tall orange fox with a few deep scars sculpted into his body. He was usually seen wearing a torn white shirt with blue jeans, a big result from fighting. Artemis' father was always fighting crime, but he never liked to kill, so he would beat his opponents unconscious for the most part and then nurse them back to health, then tell them to leave town and never show their face again. That was his father, kind hearted to the end. "Arguing with your mother again huh Artemis? Listen, you will never get anywhere like that. If you really want to argue your point, show her proof why she should let you go after this liquidy thingy. Your mother loves proof to everything. Sheesh, it took me a few years to show her enough proof why she should marry me." he chuckled. This made Artemis crack a smile; he couldn't help but feel happy around his father, he always made him cheer up when he was down about something. "Once she's convinced though, she's the best supporter you can have. Trust me son. Why don't you go look down at the library, see if you can dig up anything about that rumor there. I'll tell your mother that you went out to go train today." the tall orange fox whispered. Artemis nodded, liking his father's devious plan. "Thanks dad, I really owe you one." he whispered back and went towards his room. "No problem son. Hey while you're out can you pick me up some medicinal herbs and empty capsules from the pharmacy? I already called Harley and told him you were going to be there." the orange fox called out. "Will do dad." Artemis shouted back.

After reaching his room, the grey fox began to pack some things into his backpack. He put it onto his back and then began to head out towards the library. "Alright mom, I'm going out to train." Artemis called out. The orange vixen was chopping up a few vegetables as well as slices of meat, and did not turn around. However, that did not stop her from responding to her son's call. "Be back before ten tonight, I have a special dinner and I don't want you missing it." she ordered. "I'll get back in time, don't worry." he replied and opened the front door. He walked slowly down the pathway and looked forward, anxious to reach the library and learn all he could about the secret potion. He walked about ten minutes in silence while thinking about the results of taking the elusive liquid. Soon he reached the building he was looking for and then walked slowly towards the entrance.

_A few hours later..._

Artemis slung the backpack over his shoulder after he finished stuffing the medicinal herbs and empty small capsules into one of the compartments. 'Wonder why dad needed these? I was sure he had enough first aid kits to take care of those bandits.' the grey fox thought. His mind quickly wandered off to his new task however. He began to think about the information that he learned about the Vostage Prosperity. He was very surprised to find out that there was quite a bit of information on the liquid. He had to search many times on the item, but he found out a good piece of information that he saved onto a flash drive. He continued walking towards his small town when he saw something very disturbing. He quickly began to run towards the small urban area and then the nauseous smell of burning flesh reached his nose. 'Oh no, what could have happened?' he thought to himself. He continued running and then he came towards a burning building. He looked around cautiously at the village and noticed a body lying in the middle of the open area. He quickly ran to the body and flipped it over, trying to see who it was. As he got a closer look, his eyes went wide. It was only a child, and she was shot multiple times in her body. Artemis began to feel anger grow inside of him, but he knew that his father said to hold it back at all costs, no matter what.

That's when he realized that it wasn't just the child who was lying there motionless; he looked up slowly to see more bleeding and burned bodies littered on the ground. He slowly set the child down and then ran down the pathway towards his home, passing by the random villagers he had once knew and loved. He came to his house and then noticed something that made him fall back immediately onto the ground. His house was on fire, and the scent around it smelled highly of blood. 'No mom, dad, please be alright.' he thought to himself. He knew he couldn't risk entering into his home, so he decided to go around the back to see what he could find. After setting his backpack down near the front entrance, he ran towards the back to see if there was an opening he could take to at least quickly look inside. But as the backyard came into view, his eager and quick footsteps came to a halt as he stared at the scene in front of him. His mother and father were lying on the ground, coated with blood and were lying face down. Artemis could not believe what he was seeing, his father had never lost a fight, and now here he was, lying on the ground dead. Artemis quickly ran to his parents' bodies and then flipped them both over. "Dad get up! You're not dead! Stop playing dad!" he shouted. He knew he sounded crazy, but he didn't care, the whole situation was crazy.

He had just left the village a few hours ago, and everything was perfect. But now all of a sudden when he came back, there were bodies everywhere. He hugged his mother's body and then began to cry uncontrollably. 'How could this have happened? Who did this?' he thought to himself. As he looked up to wipe his tears, he quickly noticed that a figure was on his burning roof that he hadn't seen before. It was somehow impervious to the fire that was licking at it and it was not getting burned in any way. The figure suddenly hopped down and landed on the ground in front of Artemis. Then it looked at the grey fox in front of him and smirked. "You, I knew that worthless Prower was lying. He said he didn't have any kids. Seems that coward was wrong." the figure remarked. Now that the figure was closer, Artemis noticed that the figure was really a jackal. That's when it hit him, there had been talk that a certain jackal along with a couple of other rogues from the village had been trying to terrorize the village and his home, in particular the Prowers. But his father had always stopped the bandits, telling them kindly not to come back and leave our family alone. 'It seems that dad's kindness has taken its toll, and now he's paid for that mistake. I however won't make the same.' Artemis thought and balled up his fists. The jackal began to laugh hysterically, "You think you have any chance against me boy? I took out your father like he was nothing." he remarked. Artemis frowned, "Yeah, after he beat you down at least five hundred times." he replied quickly. This made the jackal growl and then swing at Artemis.

But Artemis was too fast for the jackal and he sidestepped as well as blocked the punched, knocking his arm outward so he could get a clear shot at the jackal's chest. As Artemis tried to punch back though, the jackal had already blocked his vulnerable area with his other arm and then tried to deliver a roundhouse kick to Artemis' head. The grey fox did not duck from the attack, instead, he quickly blocked it, stopping the jackal's foot in mid-air and delivered a hard punch to the jackal's kneecap. This caused the jackal to howl in pain and fall to the ground. Artemis had already brought out the protection knife that he had always brought with him everywhere and looked into the jackal's eyes. "Please, young man, I didn't mean anything I did... I'm sorry..." he begged. Artemis became even angrier with the jackal for being such a coward and brought his arm back to swipe at the jackal's face. But he was hit suddenly in the back of the neck with something blunt and hard. The grey fox fell forward and became heavily dazed, losing all focus and becoming dizzy. "Took you long enough Ralph." the jackal remarked. "Eh, I thought you could have at least handled a Prower kid, guess I was wrong." a figure said from behind. The voice was faint, and Artemis couldn't really tell who it was; though it sounded a little familiar to him in some way. He remained still on the ground as he tried to regain his bearings, hearing the jackal hiss in pain at his kneecap that Artemis had broken. "That damn kid, I want to kill him now!" the jackal shouted. "No, you had your chance, I'm not going to let him get away because of your failure." the voice responded.

The conversation suddenly ceased and Artemis heard the figure get closer from behind him. He couldn't make out all the shifting of movement, but he was pretty sure that the figure had kneeled down beside the jackal. Silence then took over for a couple of seconds and then the grey fox heard the jackal speak first. "Thanks, I really do owe you one. Now can we kill this stupid fox?" the jackal asked. Artemis knew that this was his cue to get up and try to fight back, but with one surprise already out, he couldn't be sure how many other rogues were waiting to jump into the fight. His only option was to run away and get away from the maniacal killers as quick as he could. Just as he heard footsteps get closer to him, the grey fox hopped up and then threw the knife he was still holding straight at the jackal, trying to severely wound him even more. His plan was to at least take out one of the rogues and he could have at least enough chance to gain some cover to figure out what was going on. The knife glided through the air and pierced the jackal's chest. The jackal began to yell out in pain and he fell onto his knees. The second figure was wearing a coat along with a baseball cap, so he couldn't tell who he was. But he heard his voice clearly and heard the tone of his expression. "You idiot! You're too careless!" the second figure shouted. He yanked the knife out of the jackal's chest, which as a response the jackal howled even louder. The second figure wasted no time in setting both his palms on the jackal's wounds and then a glowing effect began to take place. Artemis' eyes went wide, 'No way! That's not possible! He's healing him!' the grey fox thought.

He knew now that he had no chance taking out the useless jackal with the second figure there, and now it became apparent to him why it was so odd to see the jackal stand after Artemis broke his kneecap. 'He had healed him from that injury too.' the grey fox thought. He quickly ran to the front of his house and yanked his backpack off the ground without stopping. He tripped awkwardly in the process, but was able to catch himself before tumbling over and continued running. "Hey he's getting away!" the jackal shouted. The second figure only sighed, "Let him go, knowing a Prower, he'll come back and try to settle the score. Let's just make sure that you took care of all the Prowers this time. You left him alive, there could be others around here somewhere." the second figure ordered and began to walk slowly away from the backyard of Artemis' house.

The grey fox continued to run without stopping, not looking back to see if the two had followed him. He ran as fast as he could, not daring to even think of looking back. He cut corners of small hills, under rocky bridges and pathways throughout the rocky terrain. After about twenty minutes of running, he completely fell onto the ground exhausted. He was panting hard for air and his head began to pound from the rush of running so much. He held his head as it continued to throb and tears began to form out of his eyes again. In less than an hour, he had found out that his parents and possibly the rest of his family were killed brutally along with the other villagers. He couldn't think of any real reason why anyone would attack the family personally; it just didn't make sense to him. But he realized that the horror was only beginning as he realized that he had no where else to go. He couldn't return back home, the two rogues must have been waiting for him. He didn't see or hear any of them following him, and he could assume that they were probably looking for more survivors in the village. He decided that it was the best time to look for the secret potion.

He grabbed the backpack and then unzipped one of the compartments. He took out sheets of paper that he had printed out from the library and then looked at the directions that were set on the paper. He noticed that the so-called location of the Vostage Prosperity was heading towards the opposite side of where he had ran, which meant he needed to cross his own village to even get started on his journey. This made Artemis bite his lip, and he wasn't sure if he should risk trying to cross paths with the two rogues. He could imagine there were even more of them, even with one of them having healing powers, there was no way that even five of them could take on his dad. There had to be around ten to take on his father successfully. The grey fox sighed heavily, knowing he had no choice but to cross the village to get what he wanted. He needed to find that special potion, and he believed with it, he could beat the two rogues easily. He decided that during the night he would pass through the village, they wouldn't expect him to come back so soon, so maybe he could catch them off guard. Then again he thought that they might be expecting him to attack during the night while he was cloaked by the dark setting. That would definitely go against him, and he was sure that they would quickly find him if they were really looking for him.

He decided then that he would head back in an hour, the sun was setting and it was definitely early enough not to let them expect him of trying to pass through. He couldn't simply go left or right of the village, as the two passageways were cut off by huge mountains, and the only way to pass to the other side would be through the small village. He sat upright and rested against a rocky surface, looking up at the blue sky and his vision became distant, he didn't focus on anything in particular. He heard a hawk squawk in the distance, and he began to drift out of consciousness. The attack on the back of his neck did more than he had thought. He heard the hawk again and heard it getting lower and lower. His eyes began to slowly close as the red sun continued to set. His mind began to wander onto images of his mother, and her sweet voice and innocent looking face. 'Mom... I miss you...' he thought sadly.

"Artemis..." a soft voice called out. "Artemis..." it repeated. Artemis squinted his eyes open and then looked around slowly. He noticed it was pitch black and that the full moon was out. 'Oh damnit! How could I have slept that long?! No, my plan! How am I going to pass through the village without them knowing?!' his mind shouted. He quickly stood up and grabbed his backpack. He put it on his back and then crouched low. He began to move slowly back towards the village and looked around cautiously. 'Where can they be? I know they're around here.' he thought to himself. After a couple of minutes, he entered into the dark village that was blanketed by the night. He didn't realize how much the moon affected the lighting of the area. His heart was racing and beating very rapidly as he tried to maintain his breathing to be slow. He passed halfway through the village and noticed he was about to pass by his house. Suddenly he heard someone snoring loudly and he quickly hid behind one of the small houses. He peeked around the corner of the building he was hiding behind and noticed the jackal lying on the porch of his house. Artemis began to feel anger again trying to take over. He wanted to quickly sneak over there and kill him, show him he didn't even realize he could have died in his sleep. But after he saw two figures with rifles in their hands, his mind quickly snapped back to reality that he would not be able to go towards them. 'I don't remember seeing them around here before?' Artemis thought. Then he remembered the little girl's body and how he noticed the bullet holes. 'They were the ones who shot down most of the villagers, I'll get them back... I have to for my family.' he thought to himself.

After he checked the area thoroughly, he decided to make a run for the passageway out of the village that he had risked his life for. Just as he went out of cover, he suddenly noticed the silhouette of a figure on the roof of his house. How he hadn't seen it before, he didn't know, but had it not been for the moon at a certain angle, he would have been in the figure's plain line of sight. His heart began to race as he quickly went back to his cover. His pants began to increase in speed and he gulped hard. He licked his lips as he felt them drying up. 'I can do this, I'll just run past and they won't notice I was even here.' he thought to himself. He got out of his hiding spot and then quickly skulked past his house, not alerting the two guards or the jackal. But as Artemis kept his eyes trained on the silhouette figure, he noticed that the eyes of the figure were looking at him in the general area of where he was in disbelief, not sure if it was his imagination or if it was really Artemis. The grey fox took this time as an advantage to make a break for it, knowing the different routes near the exit of the village to easily lose the rogues if they decided to follow them. And sure enough as the grey fox began to run at full speed, the figure jumped down from the roof and began to run after him.

The two guards as well as the jackal followed slowly behind as they tried to catch up with the figure that seemed to be leading the pack. "Hurry up you fools!" the figure shouted behind him. But Artemis was smirking as he continued to run away from the rogues that were set on his heels. He turned a quick left through a passageway that he clearly would have passed by if he didn't know about the area near there. He quickly skidded and ran to his right through a three way passageway. He looked behind him and noticed only the second figure was following slowly behind him. Artemis didn't need the light to see where he was going, he had ran through these small passageways before. He turned a quick right and then a left and continued running straight, out of the tight rocky maze area where he would be free of the following nuisance. As he made it to the clearing, he quickly stopped to catch his breath, but his eyes went wide when he heard the clumsy figure coming close behind him. 'No way! He followed me from all the way back there?!' he thought frantically. He quickly pressed his body against the wall and then hoped for the best. He held in his breath just as the figure came into the large clearing. The full moon illuminated over the rocky flat field and began to shine brightly through the night sky. The figure with the baseball cap looked around quickly through the clearing, sure that he had seen Artemis run through the passageway a few moments ago. "He got away... I can't believe this... That stupid jackal should have been on better guard... That's the second time... next time I'll kill him myself." the figure mumbled to himself and turned back into the narrow pathway that led back to Artemis' house.

After being sure that the figure was gone, Artemis let out a long and loud sigh that he had held in for at least forty seconds. He caught his breath and then looked straightforward, noticing that the clear rocky plains were definitely the route he needed to take in order to reach his location. 'Vostage Prosperity, here I come... I'll get that guy back... I know I will.' the grey fox thought and began to walk slowly down the open field.

**To Be Continued**

**Editor's Notes: Hi everyone! I am Ultima the God, and I'm the editor of this fic, and these are my notes. I will offer my opinion and speculate on what's going on, and what's going to happen. I will NOT, however, tell anyone what's happening next. Also, to all aspiring authors who need an editor, PM me and I will get to you as soon as I can. Please read and review!**

**-Ultima out-**


	2. Chapter 2: Sacrificial Treasure

** Eternity Course**

**Chapter Two: Sacrificial Treasure**

_Artemis had been walking for a couple of days, climbing the treacherous mountains and plains to get to his destination. He had never figured out where exactly the entrance to the certain maze could be. But he knew that it was somewhere close by. His family's pride had never left him, as he still ventured through the terrain to find the Vostage Prosperity. He knew there would be risks, and he knew it would come at a cost, nothing was ever free. And he figured he would learn that along his journey._

_In the mountains..._

The grey fox slowly walked up a steep pathway, barely walking straight as he leaned forward and almost climbed to his destination. 'I'll get a better look of the area with this kind of leverage above the ground.' Artemis thought. He reached the edge of a cliff that he had just walked to and looked down through the different valleys and rocky pathways. 'Lot of ground to cover... but that only means that it will be that much more sweeter when I finally get it.' the fox thought. Artemis continued walking slowly through the area and then came across a tight and narrow canyon. He silently walked into the canyon and then turned slightly so he could grab his backpack. He took out a bottle of water and splashed some over his face. The grey fox began to pant as he fell onto the ground and sat back onto the hard surface. He felt the hot sun beat down on his fur and decided to go for some shade. He knew that it would be awhile before he actually found even a clue to what he was looking for, and he began to lose hope if he ever would find it.

Slowly the clouds began to roll past the sun and Artemis slowly got up and continued walking through the narrow canyon. After a couple of minutes, he noticed a small cave entrance that he had not seen when he had been overlooking the area from a high cliff. He hesitated after stepping towards it, but decided that it was a certain risk to run into the unknown to finally get what he wanted. He stepped into the complete darkness and then continued walking into the deep and cold cave. He knew that he had nothing to protect himself but his father's training, and he knew it would be quite careless to continue walking while his eyes needed to adjust. After walking in a certain amount of distance so the light behind him could not be seen easily, he put his back against the cave wall and sighed, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness in front of him.

He began to take a small resting period as he breathed in and out slowly, trying to cool down slowly from the extreme heat that he had felt from outside. After he was sure that he was ready to travel again, he began to move deeper into the cave, completely adjusted to the dark cave. He saw a blue tint of moving light bouncing off from the cave walls. He found this odd, not knowing what could have been causing the light in such a dark cave. When he walked in even further, he realized that there was a body of water in the middle of the cave and that there was a small opening in the roof that caused the hot sun to beam inside. Artemis looked around cautiously and saw another jagged entrance. It seemed to have a faint green glow that was inside of it. He walked closer to the second entrance and noticed that there was something odd about the glowing green light. He crouched low, feeling the instinct that something was not right. He had an unsettling feeling about the area he as now in, and as he moved even closer, he still could not find the solid source of the green light. He could see a stone bed that was oddly and eerily resembling a coffin. He pushed the stone lid and heard the stone hit the ground below it with a tremendous crash. He peered inside the open space and then his eyes went wide. He saw cold mist slowly rise out of the stone bed, and he backed away slowly as it spilled over the edges and onto the ground. He had seen the source of the green light, and it was something that was near the bottom of the 'coffin.' He walked back to it quickly and looked closer into it, hoping to find the prize that he had been searching for the past few days.

Artemis began to growl as his eyes began to dart around the small opening. 'Where is it?! I don't see it!!' the grey fox frantically thought. He soon saw a dark brown case that was at the very bottom of the coffin. It was apparent to him now that it was a lot deeper than he thought. 'Somebody must have digged up some of the ground and buried it here.' the grey fox thought. He took the brown wooden case out of the stone coffin and then opened it slowly, expecting to see some sort of vile or bottle. But instead, what he found inside was something that made his heart drop faster than a bag of rocks. It was only a soft red material, used with transporting fragile items no doubt. There was indentions of something that looked similar to a small bottle as well as a syringe and a long vile. The grey fox began to growl and he threw the empty wooden case across the cave. "NOOO!" he shouted randomly into the air as he thought about his plan. 'How am I supposed to take down that guy now?! Somebody must have already taken the Vostage Prosperity... What am I gonna do now?' he thought to himself hopelessly. He slowly walked out of the cave, not sure where to go, or what to do.

He wasn't sure if he should venture out and find new life somewhere else. But he didn't want to leave his town with such heavy blood coated on it's streets. He walked, thinking hard about his situation, thinking about whether he should leave it all alone, and be free of his past, or turn back and then face up against the people who had done such terrible things to his home. He thought about what his father would do, and then smiled. "He would... turn back..." he whispered to himself. "But remember, you are different from your father..." a deep voice called out. Artemis' eyes quickly widened and he began to frantically look around him. "Who's there? And what do you mean? Hello?!" he shouted, not sure if he had been hearing things. The grey fox continued looking around before he finally exclaimed that the heat had probably given him a stroke, and he was probably hearing things, dreaming, or beginning to hallucinate. "Artemis, I have felt the struggle inside of you, and I have both the knowledge and the power that you have been seeking." the voice remarked. Artemis heard the voice more clearly, and slowly turned around to look at the source.

Instead of nothing being behind him as he expected, there was a glowing yellow figure in the middle of the sand dunes that was about fifty to seventy five feet away. He couldn't tell too much, because the sun had been beaming down and it was starting to become hazardous to his fur. The grey fox however decided to confront what he thought as his inner thoughts. He knew there couldn't really be a random figure out in the desert that was glowing a bright yellow. He took a few seconds to reach the figure, looking up to see that it was quite taller than him. "What exactly do you mean by that knowledge and power? I want to..." he began, but was cut off by the figure. "Help your family prosper in these hard times. I know Artemis, I've called you out here because you are worthy of finding this true power and knowledge. All you have to do... is accept me inside of you." the figure remarked in it's deep voice. The grey fox backed away from the figure in hesitance. "What?" Artemis asked. He didn't like the sound of what was going on, it sounded too much like a deal from Hell itself. He didn't want to be bound to something that he would regret for an eternity later. "I don't know..." Artemis began. "You can trust me Artemis." the deep voice replied quickly. The yellow glow began to dim from around the figure and Artemis could clearly see what he was.

The figure was a tall yellow fox with glowing golden yellow eyes. The fox looked quite muscular, and he was crossing his arms with a devious smirk on his face. "Artemis, I, am the Desert Fox. You have come out here seeking the Vostage Prosperity, a fake elixir made to lure fools out here to die in this large desert and rocky terrain. You must realize that someone else has that potion, and is already using it against you." the large fox explained. "Oh no... could it be..." Artemis began, but the Desert Fox finished it for him. "It would be Ralph, the one you met earlier. He is able to heal himself and others, along with other abilities that he has gained from the Vostage Prosperity." the fox explained. This information made Artemis' ears droop low... 'I don't have a chance.' the fox thought. "You do actually... accept me into your body, and I will give you unlimited power and intelligence. Wisdom and strength are my specialities young vulpine, and I can give them to you with no price attached." the Desert Fox explained. Artemis stepped closer to the large fox, not sure of what to answer. The deal sounded too good to be true, and it was something that he wasn't sure he could afford if it really wasn't what he had hoped.

Artemis glared at the Desert Fox, "How do I know you're not lying?" he asked. The Desert Fox chuckled and then began to float slightly into the air, "If I were lying, then you would be shot out, wouldn't you? You really don't have a choice if you want to stop those bandits from destroying your town completely." the large fox replied. Artemis sighed, and extended his hand, expecting for the large fox to grin evilly and shake his hand, sealing the innocent fox's fate. But instead he slowly set back down onto the ground and then uncrossed his arms, "Artemis, there is one catch to this deal however. If you accept me, I shall flow through you and onto every one of your descendants. I am one of the ten Chosen Spirits that roam in this universe. You have found me, the Protector Spirit, or as I've told you the Desert Fox. If you go through with this, I will continue to live on forever in your family bloodline, never to leave in anyway possible. This is a good thing, but it could also be bad. Please remember that I do not control the hosts, I only enhance, extend, and multiply their own power and wisdom that is sought out by them. They themselves, could be a bad Prower, or a good one, I have nothing to do to affect this. If they are a bad Prower, I will still give them the same effect as every other Prower, no exceptions." the Desert Fox explained.

This caused the grey fox to set his hand down slowly, now thinking hard if he should set such a wager on his family's bloodline. "Also, if you accept me, you yourself will live on for a million years. You, as the ultimate founder of the spirit for the family, will feel just a faint taste of my immortality. There is nothing that you can do about it, because you will not be able to die with my power inside of you unless by one of your own kin." the Desert Fox explained. "And telling me this information was going to make it even easier for me to decide?" the grey fox asked sarcastically. The Desert Fox only snickered, "I would not lie to the one who is about to accept me." he remarked. Artemis did like that the spirit had told him all of the precautions and warnings before accepting him. He knew what he was really taking on if he had let himself be the ultimate host for the spirit. "I..." he began, and then extended his hand again. "I accept you Desert Fox, I know quite clearly the risk that I must take. I wish to protect those who are not able to... and if that same power runs through my family as well, then it should be an honor to be called the Protectors from now on." the grey fox remarked. The large fox extended his hand as well, and the two made contact. Instantly, a gust of wind passed by the fox and what Artemis felt next seemed all too unreal.

The gust of wind that had passed by had began to quicken, and the fox in front of him gave a wide grin. Artemis felt himself getting light, as if he was getting ready to fly. The world around him began to move in slow motion and he heard a faint noise of air passing by him that he had not heard before. A warm feeling in his chest began to grow and it started to become soothing to the grey fox. After a few seconds, he exhaled and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and noticed that the large fox had disappeared. "We are now one... and I can clearly speak to you if you wish to speak. I am here only as the spiritual set of the family, may the members live a long and joyous life. You can start helping by setting the example." the Desert Fox remarked. The grey fox nodded and then began to look over towards the direction he knew his town was in. "And so... it begins. The legend of the Prowers start here." the grey fox said aloud and grinned widely.

** To Be Continued**

**Editor's Notes: Nice! It appears that our favorite vulpine has got himself a very powerful ally. So, what is he going to do now since he merged with the Desert Fox? Read and find out, and, as always, please review!**

**-Ultima out-**


	3. Chapter 3: Graceful Intensity

**Eternity Course**

**Chapter Three: Graceful Intensity**

_In the desert..._

The grey fox slowly began to walk towards the direction of his village. His royal blue eyes were now a gleaming yellow, showing the presence of the spirit inside of him. 'Now... time to test out this newfound power...' Artemis thought to himself. He quickly began to run with blinding speed back towards the town, exceeding past the speed that he could ever imagine anyone going, much less himself. In a matter of seconds, he had made it to the entrance of the village. He was moving so fast, he had spotted around fifty different guards and fighters easily and brushed past a few of them that were standing guard. "Hey... did you... ah never mind, could have been these hot winds." one of the guards said and scratched his shoulder. Artemis was now in the middle of the town, looking around casually with his arms crossed. Three figures walked towards the fox with a cautious step in their movement. "Who the hell is this guy? I don't remember him coming past any of the guards." he called out. The grey fox stood silent while his clothes swayed silently with the hot winds. He kept his pose and looked straight at nothing in particular, which gave him a very deadly look. "He's just that kid that ran away earlier. The one our commander told us would come back for revenge. Guess he was right." another guard remarked and pointed his assault rifle at Artemis. "When is he ever wrong?" a third guard asked and took out his pistol and aimed it at the grey fox. "He was wrong about one thing..." the grey fox remarked. This caught the guards' attention and they all clicked their guns safety off.

Artemis grinned as his eyes began to glow a yellow color. "That bandit said that I would die like my family, but he was wrong. They died defending what they thought was right. I will protect the rights of the people." he remarked and then walked casually to one of the guards. But the guard had a steady hand and began to release his bullets onto the grey fox, trying to take him down. The guard was not stupid, he knew that Artemis was not normal anymore, and that he had suspected that he had some new power. Expecting to see the grey fox raise his hands and somehow stop the bullets from travelling to him, he had made a quick plan to rush him if he did do that. But the grey fox had already began to swiftly crouch low and then dash through the barrage of bullets separately, because they were going in such a slow speed to him. He quickly stood up straight with his arms crossed and then gave off his grin again. "I'll give you one chance... leave this place and live a fruitful life. Everyone deserves a second try at life, start a new one, or perish in this very spot." Artemis remarked. The guards began to growl and fired rapidly at the fox. "There's no way he can dodge all of our fire power. Keep firing boys!" the leader of the guards shouted out above the gunfire. The Prower did not simply dodge the barrage of bullets this time, instead, he decided to show them that he was quite serious.

He quickly dashed to one of the guards in an instant and then knocked the rifle slightly out of his hand. He only hit it hard enough to slap the gun backwards, which made the muzzle point towards the guard. It all happened so fast, the guard had not seen or felt it happen. But to Artemis, he saw everything perfectly. Artemis quickly grabbed the handle of the rifle and pulled the trigger twice, firing two bursts of machine gun fire at the guard. The guard quickly fell to the ground with a shocked expression on his face, already dead from the mortal wound he had been inflicted. This caused the other guards to shake, they had not seen the grey fox attack either; one second the guard was standing there, and then in the next, he was lying on the ground dead. They laid down their weapons and then quickly ran away, "I'm not dying over something as stupid as world domination. Best chances are that Ralph would have killed us anyway!" the leader of the guards remarked. As most of the guards ran away, others that were hiding behind small buildings and items began to run away as well in the general exit of the village. Artemis had easily spotted them however as he had came into the village. "Well, well, the little runt has come back." a voice called out from behind him.

The grey fox did not turn around to face him, he continued to look straight at the guards running away from danger. "Hello dead jackal." he remarked. The jackal growled at the threat Artemis had just told him, "Listen you stupid fox, you'll be dead when I finish with you. Don't go running away now, you pathetic piece of trash." the jackal remarked. Artemis turned his head slightly and glanced at the jackal. "Don't worry, I plan to finish all of this in the next twenty minutes. I have somewhere else that I need to be. First I must take care of the debt I must pay to my parents." the grey fox responded and fully turned around. He began to slowly walk towards the jackal. "You must be out of your mind, did you forget what happened to you last time?! Ralph and I creamed you! And you ran away like a little girl." the jackal remarked. The grey fox frowned in disgust and then in a blink of an eye was holding the jackal by his neck. The jackal began to choke violently as he tried to gasp for air. "You talk too damn much..." Artemis seethed with gritted teeth. The jackal's eyes quickly became wide and he began to talk frantically. "Listen Artemis, I'm sorry for what I did. Listen, I didn't mean any of all of that bad stuff I said, really. I was just following orders." the jackal remarked. The grey fox smirked and began to snicker. "You know what? I believe you couldn't have killed my parents. My mom could have killed you with one hand tied behind her back. You have no skill whatsoever, and I can only guess you grabbed their attention as a somewhat skillful person attacked from behind... Like so!" he shouted and then threw the jackal as hard as he could towards a building.

He did not watch the jackal collide with the house however, and turned to block the object that was coming down hard on him. His right arm had blocked a double edged sword from cutting him, which surprised even the grey fox that he could block the sharp blade. Even with the figure wearing his baseball cap, Artemis could clearly see this time that his teeth were bared and his eyes were wide with fear and anger. "Hmph... Ralph isn't it?" the grey fox asked. Artemis realized that he was not invincible, as he felt slight pain in his arm and as he moved his hand away, he saw the blood trickle down lightly from his arm to his hand. But any other person who would have been hit by that sword would have gotten their arm cut cleanly off, so he was quite grateful. The figure with the baseball cap tried to not show any hint of doubt in himself, and quickly eased away from Artemis. "Correct, I'm Ralph, leader of the Tolar Rogues. You of course are going to be dead, Prower, so there is no need to explain." the figure answered. Artemis snickered and crossed his arms again, "You cowards and your words, that's all you guys ever live by." he said clearly. This caused the figure to clench his fist. "What's the matter? Got something to say? Then go ahead and say it." the grey fox said bluntly with a frown on his face. "I'm gonna..." Ralph began, but Artemis had hit him cleanly in the mouth before he could finish.

The figure skidded on the ground and then sand quickly began to kick up from the ground. The baseball cap quickly flew off of Ralph's head and he was lying on the ground wheezing hard. Artemis realized now that Ralph was a brown raccoon, and he looked younger than he expected, around eighteen to nineteen, around his age. "How can this be? You..." he began again, but was stomped on his back by the grey fox. "I do not wish to hear your complaints, you will die a miserable and painful death. For the pain and suffering you put my village and my family through." he growled. Suddenly a bloody figure grabbed Artemis from behind and tried to thrust a small blade at the fox's neck. But Artemis immediately let out a flow of power to blast the figure off of him and make him slide and roll onto the ground. He turned away from the wheezing raccoon and turned towards the bleeding jackal. "It's time for you to die anyway." Artemis casually remarked and then picked up the jackal. "No wait..." he began, but was not able to finish. He quickly thrusted his palm at his chest, and the body he was holding in front of him immediately became silent. Artemis carelessly flung the body across the street, having no more use to look or touch it anymore.

The grey fox turned back towards the brown raccoon only to see him holding a gun and pointing it straight at him. He was chuckling as he pressed the hammer of the pistol. "You were always a coward Prower to me. Can't you see I'm invincible?! I have the Vostage Prosperity! I can heal myself at anytime that I please. I am a god!" Ralph said and then began to pull the trigger. Artemis quickly dashed at the raccoon and then smacked the gun out of his hand before the gun was able to go off. The gun was fired into the air and Artemis quickly followed up with a punch to Ralph's surprised face. The raccoon was bleeding and breathing heavily, "You... you're not of this world." Ralph wheezed. The grey fox smirked and crossed his arms, his new favorite pose. "On the contrary, I am exactly from this world. And I shall be the one to protect it." the fox replied. But instead of beating the raccoon senseless like he originally intended, he began to laugh loudly. This caused Ralph to look in confusion and in near fear, not knowing what Artemis was capable of. "What's so damn funny?!" Ralph shouted. Artemis looked at the raccoon and then pointed at him, "That thing that I have been searching so long and hard for. That Vostage Prosperity, is only a curse potion, destined to kill those who get their hands on it. Now I see what it meant by a price to pay when I did research on it. You truly gain nothing out of the elixir, and only the rotten souls of this world can find it. Congratulations, you made me realize that I was just too worthy to find that stupid thing. How ironic that my quest for knowledge and power led me to something so much greater than my intended desire." he explained. The raccoon backed away slowly, afraid that his time was drawing near to death.

But the grey fox knew that Ralph's time was officially up. "And now, a reward for the things you have done to this village and to the people around you. Eternal Slumber!" the fox shouted and then thrusted his hand straight through the raccoon's chest. The raccoon began to cough up his blood as the large size hole in his chest was formed. Artemis quickly brought his blood soaked hand out of Ralph's chest and then watched as he slumped over and began to fall slowly to his side, letting him wheeze for his final breath. "Just in case..." he muttered lowly. Before the raccoon could even touch the ground, the fox had snatched up Ralph's sword with blinding speed and then heaved it cleanly to Ralph's neck, cutting the raccoon's head off cleanly from his body. The fox watched as the body finally touched the ground and he heard the wind rustle around him. The grey fox did not say or do anything, he just stood and looked at the damage that had been caused around him over the past two days. 'It's time for a new life... to find the one to bear my child and start a new beginning for the Prowers. I shall make us relive our protective ways again.' the grey fox thought and then dashed out of the village, leaving the bodies and the different buildings behind.

**To Be Continued**

_Author's Notes: Just wanna say if you read this far than I'm pleased that you took interest in the story. As you can clearly tell from my past stories, this is some different and much more complex material. The story won't be easy to figure out, I'll have you on the edge all the time, and if you do manage to guess what's going to happen next, then great job, it means you're paying attention. Next series will be **Lunar Mirage.** Don't miss it._

**Editor's Notes: So Artemis has gotten revenge on Ralph for the murder of his family. Now he begins his journey to find a mate. Wonder who the lucky vixen is going to be? X3333 shotshotshotshot**

**-Ultima out-**


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